Letters, ca. 1970 | University of Illinois Archives

The Medical Center, University of Illinois at Chicago, includes the Colleges of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy; the Research and Education Hospital; the Division of Services for Crippled Children; the Institute for Tuberculosis Research; Aeromedical and Physical Environment Laboratory; the Illustration Studios; the Animal Hospital; Office of Student Affairs; and the Health Center.

In 1941 the 62nd General Assembly established the Medical Center District in Chicago. It was to be bound by Ashland Blvd. on the East, Congress Street on the North, Oakley Blvd. on the West, and Roosevelt Road on the South. A Medical Center Commission was created for the control and management of the district. It was to "provide improvement and development of the territory surrounding the (existing) medical institutions of Chicago's West Side."1 On July 25, 1942 the Board of Trustees met to consider studies of possible development of the Medical Center District from the INT of the University.2

University of Illinois facilities in existence prior to the establishment of the Medical Center District included the "College of Medicine" which opened Oct. 14, 1881 and was known as "The College of Physicians & Surgeons of Chicago." In 1897 the school was under lease to the U. of I. and in 1900 the name was officially changed to "The College of Medicine of U. of I." The school ceased in 1912 but in 1913 all property & stock of the old institution was transferred to the university and reopened.3

The College of Pharmacy, first known as The Chicago College of Pharmacy, founded in 1859, became the School of Pharmacy on May 1, 1896, and the name changed to College of Pharmacy in 1932. In 1940 the school moved from 715 S. Wood to new quarters in the Medical & Dental College Laboratory Bldg. A four year curriculum was established.4

The School of Dentistry, organized as a department of the College of Medicine in 1901, became The College of Dentistry in 1905. The School was closed in 1912, was reorganized and reopened in 1913.5

Rush Medical College and Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago affiliated with the College of Medicine in 1941. In 1941, the General Assembly transferred the Research and Education Hospital and Illinois Surgical Institute for children to the university from the State Department of Public Welfare. The Division of Services for Crippled Children formerly in that department was placed under jurisdiction of the university. The Neuropsychiatric Institute, Illinois Eye & Ear Infirmary & Institute for Juvenile Research operate under agreement between the university and the Department of Public Welfare.6